Village Life
by Sketcher1994
Summary: Gajeel gets nagged into visiting his friend Juvia; the catch was that she'd moved to a village in the middle of nowhere after getting married. How will Gajeel cope with spending an afternoon trying to 'blend in' in a small farming village after his plans go seriously wrong? AU set in the real world.


**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

**Hey guys, this is random but the inspiration came after reading, once again, about how much Gajeel 'stands out' – you'll realise why I find this so funny if you take the time to read this one-shot. This is based in my home village and the people are ****_NOT_**** OCs; they're real people but with different names - and yes, my real family is mentioned, let me know if you work out which one is me! ;D **(Sorry it's late! I stayed at a friend's last night after a 'Pirate Party'; I was boring and went as post-timeskip Nico Robin ;P )

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Gajeel sighed as he stood in the bus stop looking out at the rain. He'd missed his bus and there wasn't another for almost four hours. Stupid villages. This is what he got for doing a favour for someone. He'd come to the small village hoping to see an old friend again after promising his cousin that he'd make an attempt to see them. He hadn't seen her since she'd gotten married and moved to the village. He'd had her address for years, but he'd decided small villages in the middle of the countryside really weren't his type of scene. He was over six foot with long black hair that ran the length of his back and several piercing on his face alone. He'd sincerely doubted he'd 'blend in'.

He'd turned up in the mile long village half an hour ago and asked the first person he'd seen for directions to Juvia's. Annoyingly it had taken twenty minutes to find someone. In that twenty minutes he'd walked the length of the village, which apparently ended with a Primary School, and started to double back on his self. He'd decided to stop in at the small village shop to see if the owner had any idea where his friend lived. If this had been back home, the owner would have thought he was crazy just for asking. However, this was the middle of nowhere. Literally. On the bus there, the last village he'd seen had been several miles back. So surely it was one of those weird places where everyone knew everyone else, right?

Right.

The shop owner knew his friend; 'She's a lovely young woman! Hopefully she'll have some cute wee children soon to send to the Primary School! My grandchildren go there, but it's running low on pupils again – it's a shame really! It's such a lovely wee school!' Gajeel resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the much older blonde woman behind the counter as she babbled away. He'd started to zone out when she finally said something interesting. Annoyingly for Gajeel, it was not a good thing. He'd sat on a damn bus for two hours for no reason! Juvia was away on holiday with her husband. Of course she'd be on holiday! Why the hell had he decided to surprise her?!

So here he was, standing in the bus stop at the bottom of the village, soaked to the skin as he watched the rain hit the road in front of him. He heard shouts coming from over the large hedge where he'd learned the small car dealership could be found. Why the hell they had one in such a small village, he'd never know. He looked at his phone to check the time and realised it was half one, must be time for lunch here. He looked around him, trying to decide how to spend his last three hours in the damn village. He watched as a large man stepped out of the small 'hotel' just along the road from where he was. The man laid out a blackboard and Gajeel suddenly remembered what he'd seen as he'd looked in the window on his way past on his laps of the village.

It had a bar.

He could sit and have a pint while he waited on the last bus back to civilisation. He started the three minute walk towards the so called hotel. As he approached it, Gajeel noticed a man walking down the village and suddenly felt completely normal; no wonder the shop owner hadn't even blinked when he'd walked in. It wasn't the Rottweiler trotting along at the man's heel that caught his eye, but the thick black dreadlocks, army trousers and the tattoos that completely covered the man's arms. Gajeel dived into the building, trying to decide if what he'd just seen was real.

"Hello!"

Gajeel looked up to see the large man from before standing behind the bar.

"The name's Moki. This is my pub. Not seen ya' 'round here b'fore; w'ere ya' from?"

"Huh? Em, name's Gajeel. I'm just here to visit a friend of mine; Juvia?" He grunted, glancing out the window as he seen the strange man and his dog cross the road.

"That's Garrin. Nice guy, but he got in wi'h the wrong crowd w'en he got back from his last deployment a couple o' years ago. He was in the army; he stays wi'h his mum up by the Primary w'en he's not in prison. Like I said; nice guy, wrong friends. The dog's a sap, even if he looks like an evil buggar." Moki answered, somehow knowing Gajeel's question without him asking, "Your friend's a nice lass. I've met her a few times, but she uses the pub up the road – it's a more of a restaurant while we do good old pub grub."

Gajeel nodded at the man, taking a seat at the tall wooden bar before asking for a pint. He jumped as 'Garrin' appeared behind him from a different door to the one he'd come in. There must be a backdoor for the regulars. An old greyhound suddenly appeared out of another door to his right, the opposite end of the bar to where 'Garrin' had come in. There were too many damn doors!

"A' rite?" 'Garrin' greeted Gajeel while he clapped the dog fondly, his own dog missing.

"Sure...I'm Gajeel, a friend of Juvia's." The was no point in being rude, the guy had only asked him –in some weird accent – if he was 'all right', while grinning at him.

"Aye, she's a nice lass. Lives next to ma mother. Nice piercings by the way." Gajeel nodded a 'thanks' at the strange man – he silently laughed in his head, _he_ thought someone looked strange. He silently wondered what Juvia thought of the guy, who, if he remembered correctly, would be her neighbour.

He finished his pint quickly and started to get up...just as another group of men wandered into the pub. He cursed as they all spotted him and grinned. He had a sudden sense of 'fresh meat'. He nodded at the man at the front of the group who'd started walking towards him. They all looked much the same age as him, and they looked more normal than 'Garrin'. The one walking towards him like he was an old friend was the only one that didn't look like your completely average guy. His ears were pierced in several places and both his upper arms were covered in tribal style tattoos. Gajeel couldn't exactly consider him weird, considering Gajeel himself had a few more piercings, namely on his forearms and face, and even had his own tattoo on his upper arm. The other man was a couple of inches shorter than him with short black hair, black sideburns and glasses. The glasses didn't even deduct from the obvious muscular but slim dominating physic of the other man, shown off perfectly by his tight fitting white vest top.

"Aw right, mate?! I'm Jedrek!" He called over the friendly noise, holding his hand out.

"Gajeel." He replied, taking hold of the other man's hand, giving it a single firm shake as he nodded his head to Jedrek, Jedrek grinning back in a way that suggested Gajeel had passed some sort of test.

"Pint?" Gajeel nodded, thanking Jedrek before the man suddenly started shouting happily, "AYYYY! Garrin! How yi dayin man?! Gajeel! This is ma' cousin Garrin! He just got out a couple of weeks ago!"

Gajeel sat completely stunned. Jedrek had just shouted out, in the middle of the pub, that his cousin was 'just out'. Who the hell tells EVERYONE that their cousin just got out of prison? He looked around him, expecting to see shocked faces. Nothing. Absolutely no reaction at all. No one had even noticed – it was almost as if it was normal in this little village. What the hell? He was in a quiet little village in the middle of nowhere, and someone getting out of prison wasn't a surprise to everyone? What the hell was this place? Who were these people? They were _happy_ to see a guy who'd been in prison?! They _welcomed_ him?! No wonder they didn't think _he_ looked weird!

"Oi! Gajeel, you al' right?!" Gajeel nodded at Jedrek before taking a sip of his fresh pint and shaking Garrin's offered hand. Apparently he was fitting right in...for once, "you play pool?"

"Not really, but I'll give it a shot," Gajeel grinned.

"Oi, Defrain! Got someone to play your fat ass!" Jedrek shouted over Gajeel's shoulder.

Gajeel turned around to find himself face to face with a man the same size as him, only this man's bulk was made up of something that wasn't muscle, more the opposite. The man was as tall as him, with short spiky red-tinged brown hair and a ginger goatee. He was wearing a baggy t-shirt with a dragon on it. Dragon, nice. He noticed the similarities between the two men and wondered if they were also related as the giant man put his glasses back on after cleaning them with the edge of his t-shirt. They had the same bold blue eyes, but the expression in each was different, yet still seemed to hold some sort of strange pride behind them.

"Fine," Defrain replied, sounding board.

"Teen!" Gajeel's head shot up as Jedrek suddenly shouted in the direction of the back door that Gajeel had only found out the location of once they'd left the bar to go to the 'pool room'.

"Hey!"

Gajeel watched as the girl walked towards them. She could only have been about 5' 6" and she had the same red-tinged brown hair as Defrain. The resemblance between her and the two men was impressive; this must be their sister. Her hair was pinned up in a giant hair clip and the smell of hairspray assaulted Gajeel's sensitive nose as she approached in a black shirt and trousers. She grinned happily at them, the same strange pride in her blue eyes, but there was something else as she looked up at the eldest brother. Gajeel watched as the third broad shouldered bespectacled sibling released the giant hair clip and shook her hair, letting it fall loose against her pale skin. She reminded him of Evergreen as she then hit the younger of the two brothers in irritation as he made a joke at her expense, causing Gajeel and Jedrek to laugh.

"Gajeel, this is my little sister, Chemarina," Jedrek introduced, but Gajeel wasn't paying attention.

Gajeel was staring at the girl behind her. There had been a smaller girl following her, a much _cuter_ blue haired girl. She had large hazel eyes and a smile that had him grinning like an idiot. She was fucking adorable! She had her hair tied back in a short ponytail and was dressed in the same black outfit as the first girl. A uniform. They'd obviously just come in from work. He watched as she untied the ribbon holding her hair back, then only to tie it around her head as a bold, yellow bandana. He realised he was staring and looked away, hoping no one could see his most likely very red ears.

"This is my friend Levy. We've just finished our shift at the pub up the road," Chemarina smiled knowingly between the two of them. She wasn't one for mushy stuff or matchmaking, but she was always willing to see a friend happy, and judging by the red ears, he wasn't planning on leaving the pub without at least attempting to talk to her friend, if not with her friend's number.

"Nice to meet you!" Levy smiled up at the giant muscular man, his studded face turning away slightly again.

Gajeel grunted, not sure what to say to ridiculously short girl. She was talking to the other girl now, not even paying attention to him. She was leaning her elbows on the small table covered in the guys' drinks where Chemarina and Defrain sat, still arguing in a strangely companionable way. He stared at Levy's ass as it stuck up into the air. Gajeel had the sudden urge to reach out and grab it, only managing to restrain himself at the thought that any one of these guys could be her boyfriend. His jaw dropped as Chemarina patted her lap and Levy dropped down onto her. She was sitting on the other girls knee, sipping at the other girl's vodka coke through a straw. He watched as the other gently took the glass and took a gulp from it, ignoring the straw.

Gajeel studied the two girls. The taller one had lost any 'feminine charm' she'd had the second she'd sat down. She was sitting slumped with one arm over the back of the chair, one arm around Levy's waist and her legs spread slightly as if she was a guy. Levy on the other had sat cutely on her knee, sipping at the drink she'd taken back, her back resting against the other girl's much larger chest, looking perfectly comfy, as if it was an everyday occurrence. Gajeel sighed. It wasn't a boyfriend he had to worry about, it was a damn girlfriend! They were fucking lesbians! Just his damn luck that the cute girl would be into bloody women! Gajeel froze as they glanced at him. He decided to just speak to them so he didn't seem too weird considering they'd just spotted him staring.

"Eh, hey. I'm Gajeel – I'm a friend of Juvia's," mentioning Juvia hadn't failed him yet in this village.

"Oh! You're _that_ Gajeel! We've heard so much about you!" Levy smiled brightly, "we work with her! She talks about you all the time!"

"Yeah, but she really doesn't do you justice. His muscles are huge, aren't they, Levy?" Chemarina added boldly, prodding Levy in her side.

"They really are, aren't they?!" Levy smiled, only to suddenly find herself blushing as she realised what her friend had just dropped her in.

"And he's pretty handsome too, isn't he?! And he just happens to keep looking at you, Levy," Chemarina jeered, a huge grin across her face.

"Chemaary!" Levy whined as both her and Gajeel's faces went red, Gajeel having no idea what was going on.

"Oi, oi! What's goin' on here?!" Jedrek called, mirroring his sister's grin.

"I-I have to go; the bus'll be here soon!" Gajeel babbled, looking at his watch.

"Bus? Good luck – the next bus isn't 'til five past seven tomorrow morning! It'll get you back to the city 'bout nine if it's not too busy; it's sometimes 'bout qua'ter past." Chemarina explained plainly, bored that he wasn't playing nice.

"Shit! I need to be at work at nine! How much is a taxi?!" He burst out, panicking.

"I'd give you a lift mate, but I start work at five tomorrow." Jedrek apologised sympathetically.

"Five? But how does that stop you giving me a lift?" Gajeel looked at him confused.

"Five AM. As in five o'clock tomorrow morning. Mum's using Defrain and Chemarina's car since hers is in the garage, so that rules them out. Lev, sorry but you got your car? Gajeel here needs a lift home so he can get to work tomorrow."

"Em, yeah, but this is my third drink; I had two before we left work...but I was heading up that way tomorrow anyway, so I can give you a lift tomorrow morning?" She smiled, her embarrassment completely forgotten. Gajeel smiled and thanked her.

Maybe things hadn't turned out that badly? Sure, he hadn't gotten to see Juvia, and he'd missed his bus, but he'd made some new friends, _and_ he was getting to spend an hour in a car _alone_ with a cute blue haired girl with the nicest ass he'd ever seen. Damn, his life was great!

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**See?! Gajeel would fit in perfectly! Piercings and tattoos are perfectly normal, along with men with long hair! The tattoo artist in the village actually has a ponytail, and yes we're a tiny village in the middle of nowhere filled with retired elderly people and young families, but there're still the daft guys in between! ;D Writing in my own 'tongue' was fun though, damn hard, but fun! :D It varies slightly depending on which village or town you come from, and trying to communicate the accent? Hope you liked it anyway! It's totally random, but hopefully you enjoyed it! :D Next Sunday's is a Zorobin one-shot XD Oh, I'm hoping to attempt a GaLe point of view version of 'My Unison Raid', for anyone interested :)**


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